This invention relates to chewing gum compositions containing active ingredients. More particularly, this invention relates to producing chewing gums that contain compounds for treating ulcers and halitosis.
Chewing gum compositions, typically, include a water soluble bulk portion, a water insoluble chewing gum base portion and water insoluble flavoring agents. Also, chewing gum compositions can be formulated to provide the delivery of active agents. These active agents may be a variety of breath fresheners, or medicaments, such as laxatives, aspirin or nicotine. Delivering these medicaments through a chewing gum vehicle is desirable for people who have difficulty swallowing pills. Also, the bad taste of some of the agents may be disguised by stronger flavoring agents in the chewing gum, which may make gum a suitable vehicle for delivery of certain medicines. Moreover, some medicines may be absorbed directly into the bloodstream through the tissue lining the mouth, making the medicine more readily available than if absorbed through the gastrointestinal walls. Accordingly, many people can benefit from new discoveries of how to effectively deliver active ingredients through a chewing gum formulation.
Unfortunately, many active ingredients are not suitable for administration through a chewing gum for a variety of reasons. A chewing gum cannot be effective if it has unpleasant medicinal taste, causes discoloration in the user""s mouth, or the active ingredient causes poor chewing characteristics. A chewing gum cannot be effective if the active ingredient is not readily released from the gum, and thus, not delivered either into the mouth or the stomach where it can be absorbed or act topically. For this reason, many active ingredients may be effectively delivered by chewable tablets, or swallowable tablets, but not by chewing gum.
Recent discoveries have associated bacterial infection in the causation of peptic ulcer disease. The bacterium found to be associated with peptic ulcers has been identified as Helicobacter pylori. Excessive gastric acidity and mental stress are no longer thought to be the major pathophysiological reasons for the occurrence of peptic ulcers. Thus, questions regarding the previously established paradigms of and approaches for ulcer treatment and healing processes have been raised.
Previously, ulcers were treated by suppressing secretion of acid in the stomach. H2-receptor blockers, such as cimetidine (Tagamet(copyright)) and Ranitidine (Zantac(copyright)), suppress acid secretion and have been used to treat and heal duodenal ulcers. However, these H2-receptor blockers do not eliminate the Helicobacter pylori bacteria (xe2x80x9cH. pylorixe2x80x9d). These drugs do not reverse the tendency for ulcers to form.
For many years bismuth compounds have been used in swallowable tablet form and liquid form for treating ulcers. The therapeutic efficacy of bismuth compounds such as colloidal bismuth subcitrate, CBS, (also known as tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate), in healing duodenal ulcers and lowering relapse rates is attributed to its specific anti-bacterial activity against H. pylori. However, using bismuth compounds alone, H. pylori eradication rates of about 10 to 40% has been reported. Also, patients would suffer a relapse of ulcers after discontinuing taking the bismuth compounds.
Even though, as a single agent, CBS is significantly more effective in eradicating H. pylori than many other antibiotics, multiple therapies of bismuth compounds combined with other antibiotics have been reported to result in more than a 95% eradication rate for H. pylori and reduced ulcer relapse rate to less than 10% during a twelve-month follow-up period. For example, one such common triple therapy, comprised of CBS, amoxicillin and metronidazole, has been reported to have a high rate of effectiveness. However, it would be desirable to achieve such effectiveness in eradicating H. pylori with simple single agent therapies. No such single agent heretofore has been shown to be effective.
The present invention, therefore, is related to development of a chewing gum formulation to effectively eradicate H. pylori colonies without the need for combination antibiotic therapies. This invention is related to a chewing gum formulation containing a water soluble bulk portion, a water insoluble chewing gum base portion, a flavoring agent, and compounds selected from the group consisting of colloidal bismuth subcitrate, bismuth citrate, bismuth subcitrate, bismuth salicylate, bismuth subsalicylate, bismuth subnitrate, bismuth subcaibonate, bismuth tartrate, bismuth subgallate, bismuth aluminate, and combinations thereof This chewing gum has been found to eradicate or reduce H. pylori in reservoirs in the oral cavity and at the cite of infection and ulceration in the gastric mucosa. The invention further provides for a method of treating H. pylori infection by the administration of a chewing gum containing an amount of bismuth in a bismuth-containing compound equivalent to between about 10 and 200 milligrams of colloidal bismuth subcitrate. The invention further provides for the method of treating halitosis by the administration of a chewing gum containing bismuth compounds.
In general, chewing gum compositions include a water soluble bulk portion, a water insoluble chewing gum base portion and, typically, water insoluble flavoring agents. The water soluble portion dissipates with a portion of the flavoring agents over a period of time during chewing. The gum base portion is retained in the mouth throughout the chewing process.
The insoluble gum base generally includes elastomers, resins, fats, oils, waxes, softeners and inorganic fillers. The elastomers may include polyisobutylene, isobutylene-isoprene copolymer, styrene butadiene rubber and natural latexes such as chicle. The resins may include polyvinyl acetate and terpene resins. Low molecular weight polyvinyl acetate is a preferred resin. Fats and oils may include animal fats such as lard and tallow, vegetable oils such as soybean and cottonseed oils, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and cocoa butter. Commonly used waxes include petroleum waxes such as paraffin and microcrystalline wax, natural waxes such as paraffin and microcrystalline wax, natural waxes such as beeswax, candellia, carnauba and polyethylene wax. Preferably, the waxes have a melting point between 95xc2x0 F. and 240xc2x0 F.
The gum base typically also includes a filler component such as calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, talc, dicalcium phosphate and the like; elastomers, including glycerol monostearate and glycerol triacetate; and optional ingredients such as antioxidants, colors and emulsifiers. The gum base constitutes between 5 and 95% by weight of the chewing gum composition, more typically 10-50% by weight of the chewing gum, and commonly 25-35% by weight of the chewing gum.
The water soluble portion of the chewing gum may include softeners, bulk sweeteners, high intensity sweeteners and combinations thereof. Softeners are added to the chewing gum in order to optimize the chewability and mouth feel of the gum. The softeners, which are also known as plasticizers or plasticizing agents, generally constitute between about 0.5-15% by weight of the chewing gum. The softeners may include glycerin, lecithin, and combinations thereof. The softeners may also include aqueous sweetener solutions such as those containing sorbitol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, corn syrup and combinations thereof.
Bulk sweeteners constitute between 20-80% by weight of the chewing gum and may include both sugar and sugarless sweeteners and components. Sugar sweeteners may include saccharide containing components including but not limited to sucrose, dextrose, maltose, dextrin, dried invert sugar, fructose levulose, galactose, corn syrup solids, and the like, alone or in combination. Sugarless sweeteners include components with sweetening characteristics but are devoid of the commonly known sugars. Sugarless sweeteners include but are not limited to sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, hydrogenated, starch hydrolysates, maltitol, and the like, alone or in combination.
High intensity sweeteners may also be present. These may include but are not limited to sucralose, aspartame, salts of acesulfame, alitame, saccharin and its salts, cyclamic acid and its salts, dihydrochalcones, thaumatin, monellin, and the like, alone or in combination.
Combinations of sugar and/or sugarless sweeteners may be used in chewing gum. The sweetener may also function in the chewing gun in whole or in part as a water soluble bulking agent. Additionally, the softener may also provide additional sweetness such as with aqueous sugar or alditol solutions.
One or more flavoring agents are generally present in the chewing gum in an amount within the range of about 0.1-10% by weight of the chewing gum, preferably between about 0.5-3% by weight of the chewing gum. The flavoring agents may include essential oils, synthetic flavors or mixtures thereof including but not limited to oils derived from plants and fruits such as citrus oils, fruit essences, peppermint oil, spearmint oil, other mint oils, clove oil, oil of wintergreen, anise and the like. Artificial flavoring agents and components may also be used. Natural and artificial flavoring agents may be combined in any sensorally acceptable fashion. All such flavors and flavor blends are contemplated by the present invention.
Optional ingredients such as colors, such as titanium dioxide and the like, emulsifiers and pharmaceutical agents may also be included in chewing gum.
The active pharmaceutical agents in this chewing gum formulation of this invention include non-H-2 antagonist bismuth compounds. These bismuth compounds include colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), bismuth citrate, bismuth subcitrate, bismuth salicylate, bismuth subsalicylate, bismuth subnitrate, bismuth subcarbonate, bismuth tartrate, bismuth subgallate, and bismuth aluminate.
Preferably, the bismuth compound is selected from Colloidal Bismuth Subcitrate (CBS), bismuth subcitrate, bismuth subsalicylate and their combination. Most preferably, the bismuth compound is Colloidal Bismuth Subcitrate (CBS). The structural formula of CBS is:
[Bi(OH)3]3BiC6H6O7 (1,2,3-PROPANETRICARBONIC ACID, 2-HYDROXY, BISMUTH(3 T)POTASSIUM); CAS#57644-54-9
Colloidal bismuth subcitrate and other bismuth compounds may be coated, micro-encapsulated, or agglomerated before incorporating in the chewing gum formulation to further cause the slow dissolution and sustained concentration of the compounds in the saliva. The polymers used for coating or encapsulation may include methylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxy-propylmethylcellulose, ethylcellulose, carbowax, polyethyleneglycols, acrylic polymers, to name a few. For example, CBS can be coated with a coating solution containing hydroxy-propylcellulose and polyethylene glycol in hydro-alcoholic solvent employing a fluid-bed coating equipment. The coated CBS particles should be assayed for CBS content and dissolution characteristics.
It is preferred that the chewing gum formulation containing bismuth compounds be capable of releasing the drug in a precise and reproducible fashion during a fifteen-minute chewing time. Preparing the bismuth compound using any of the above techniques may achieve such uniform release.
The chewing gum formulations may also include anti-plaque agents. The anti-plaque agents further contribute to improved efficacy by breaking down the plaque and exposing the H. pylori bacterial colonies to the anti-bacterial agents. Anti-plaque agents include, but are not limited to, glucanase anhydroglucosidase, glucose oxidase, calcium kaolin, silicone oil, sanguinarine, and the like.
Optionally, an antibiotic, such as metronidazole, can be added to the chewing gum formulation to broaden the anti-microbial activity against H. pylori. However, a preferred form of the chewing gum comprises an active pharmaceutical agent that consists essentially of a bismuth compound selected from the group consisting of colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), bismuth citrate, bismuth subcitrate, bismuth salicylate, bismuth subsalicylate, bismuth subnitrate, bismuth subcarbonate, bismuth tartrate, bismuth subgallate, and bismuth aluminate.
Chewing gum is generally manufactured by sequentially adding the various chewing gum ingredients to any commercially available mixer known in the art. Generally, the ingredients are mixed by first melting the gum base and adding it to the running mixer. The gum base may alternatively be melted in the mixer. Color and emulsifiers can be added at this time. A softener such as glycerin can be added next along with syrup and part of the bulk portion. Further parts of the bulk portion may then be added to the mixer. The flavoring agent, pharmaceutical agent, and other optional ingredients of this ilk, are typically added with the final part of the bulk portion. The entire mixing process typically takes from five to fifteen minutes, although longer mixing times are sometimes required. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations of this mixing procedure, or other mixing procedures, may be followed.
After the ingredients have been thoroughly mixed, the gum mass is discharged from the mixer and shaped into the desired form such as by rolling into sheets and cutting into sticks, extruding into chunks, or casting into pellets. Pellet or ball gum is prepared as conventional chewing gum, but formed either into pellets that are pillow-shaped or into balls. The pellets/balls can then be coated or panned by conventional panning techniques to make a unique sugar-coated pellet gum. Conventional panning procedures generally apply a liquid coating to a pellet, which is then solidified, usually by drying the coating. The hard-shell coating layer is built up by successive coating and drying steps.
Conventional panning procedures generally coat with sucrose, but recent advances in panning have allowed the use of other carbohydrate materials to be used in the place of sucrose, yet still obtain a hard-shell coating. Some of these components include, but are not limited to, dextrose, maltose, xylitol, lactitol, palatinit and other new alditols or a combination thereof These materials may be blended with panning modifiers including, but not limited to, gum arabic, maltodextrins, corn syrup, gelatin, cellulose type materials like carboxymethyl cellulose or hydroxymethyl cellulose, starch and modified starches, vegetable gums like alginates, locust bean gum, guar gum, and gum tragacanth, insoluble carbonates like calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate, and talc. Antitack agents may also be added as panning modifiers, which allow the use of a variety of carbohydrates and sugar alcohols to be used in the development of new panned or coated gum products. Flavors may also be added with the sugar coating and with the bulk sweetener to yield unique product characteristics.
The chewing gum formulation of the present invention is superior to conventional therapy for treating ulcers. It turns out that the conventional bismuth therapy was shown to be only somewhat effective in eliminating H. pylori from the gastric mucosa, but had no effect on the H. pylori colonies in dental plaque. Colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), an effective agent against H. pylori, however, is not absorbed significantly from the gastrointestinal tract, and therefore produces insufficient salivary concentrations through systemic recycling to affect H. pylori in the mouth. This continued presence of H. pylori in the dental plaque, and possibly the throat and esophagus, raises the question of whether the relapse of ulcers was inevitable with conventional bismuth therapy.
Multiple therapies of bismuth compounds combined with other antibiotics have been found to be superior to conventional bismuth therapy. Typical combinations include bismuth subsalicylate, metronidazole and amoxicillin or tetracycline. One possible explanation for the observed clinical efficacy of the antibiotic and bismuth combination that has not been advanced by the scientific community is that the metronidazole is actively secreted in the saliva where it may be exerting anti-microbial action against dental plaque-bound H. pylori colonies that the bismuth compounds administered alone in swallowable tablets cannot reach.
Interestingly, the antibiotics administered as single agents were only partially effective. Even though metronidazole is secreted in the saliva and may eradicate H. pylori in the mouth, it is not effective in single-handedly eradicating H. pylori in the gastric mucosa, i.e., the stomach. Therefore, assuming this explanation is correct, it is reasonable to believe that in order to achieve nearly complete eradication of H. pylori, and prevent relapses of ulcers, it is essential to eradicate the bacterium from the oral cavity, and possibly the throat and esophagus, as well as from the gastric mucosa.
However, it was not known whether bismuth compounds would be therapeutically effective in the oral cavity. In prior use of CBS against ulcers, it was known that CBS undergoes conversion to bismuth trioxide under the influence of gastric acids in the stomach. Conventional wisdom accepted that bismuth trioxide was the active product in the eradication of duodenal H. pylori. Therefore, it was not expected that CBS in a chewing gum would show efficacy in eradicating H. pylori in the mouth. Moreover, it was not known at what dose levels bismuth compounds would provide therapeutic effectiveness, if at all, for topical use in the mouth.
Chewing gum formulations in this invention have since been shown to be therapeutically effective in clinical studies. Preferably, the chewing gum releases enough bismuth into saliva for eradication of H. pylori in the oral cavity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of bismuth for H. pylori varies for each bismuth compound. For instance, it is established that the MIC of CBS for H. pylori is 8 xcexcg/mL, and its range is 4 to 32 xcexcg/mL.
Therefore, to ensure its effectiveness, the chewing gum formulation preferably releases bismuth into saliva up to at least 2 times the MIC, preferably a minimum of 2 to 10 times the MIC, most preferably 2 to 250 times the MIC. To achieve these concentrations in the saliva, the bismuth content per dosage of chewing gum can be between about 3.5 mg and about 75 mg, preferably between about 3.5 mg and about 37 mg, more preferably between about 9 mg and about 28 mg. The amount of bismuth-containing compound per dosage thus is determined by the bismuth content of that particular compound. For instance, each piece of CBS-containing chewing gum may contain between about 10 mg and about 200 mg of CBS, preferably between about 10 mg and about 100 mg, and more preferably between about 25 mg and about 75 mg. Accordingly, each piece of gum may include amounts of other bismuth compounds that provide the same bismuth equivalent as the aforementioned ranges of CBS.
Of course, the amount of bismuth compound in each piece may be halved so that a person would chew on two pieces at a time to have the same effective amount of bismuth. Also, the chewing gum should be chewed multiple times throughout the day to prevent the H. pylori colonies from returning to their original size. Preferably, the chewing gum will be administered in sequential doses of between one and ten times per day, more preferably between two and six times per day. Also, the chewing gum administered may comprise an active pharmaceutical agent that consists essentially of a bismuth compound selected from the group consisting of colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), bismuth citrate, bismuth subcitrate, bismuth salicylate, bismuth subsalicylate, bismuth subnitrate, bismuth subcarbonate, bismuth tartrate, bismuth subgallate, and bismuth aluminate and combinations thereof.
In another embodiment of the present invention the chewing gum containing a previously described bismuth compound is administered simultaneously (or concomitantly) with a peroral dosage form, such as a swallowable tablet, containing a previously described bismuth compound.
The bismuth compound contained in the swallowable tablet used for concomitant treatment in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention may be the same as that of the chewing gum that is administered by itself. The bismuth content of the swallowable tablet can be equivalent to between about 300 mg-1200 mg of colloidal bismuth subcitrate per day, preferably. The concomitant treatment can be administered once or twice per day, more preferably once per day.
A wide range of changes and modifications to the embodiments of the invention described above will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. The following examples are not to be construed as imposing limitations on the invention, but are included merely to illustrate preferred embodiments.